The Road To Ruins - A Trip To Kos Town

Kos Town is the capital of Kos and, with a population of 14,750, the only sizable town on the island. Buses leave Kamari harbour every three hours and the 40 km journey takes around fifty minutes. For a couple of euros extra you can pop into the village travel agent and book a seat on one of their twice weekly coach trips which will pick you up from your accommodation (unless you're up a narrow mountain path, like us, in which case you have to wait on the sea front) and drop you off in Kos Town, collecting you four hours later. As it is approaching the end of the tourist season we shared the coach with just four other couples - a lot more spacious than the bus!

You know that old Greek film Never On A Sunday? Well, if you ever visit Kos Town, you need to change that to a Monday as, once we'd stepped off the coach, we soon discovered that several of the town's main attractions were only open from Tuesday to Sunday meaning that both the Archaeological Museum and the 15th century Castle of the Knights were off the agenda.

 Oh well, if you've ever visited Kos then you'll know that it's an island of endless treasures and that, even in Kos Town, it's pretty much impossible not to spot an Ancient Greek ruin as they're scattered pretty much everywhere you turn.

Next to the car park we came across some ancient ruins which, we discovered, were uncovered after an earthquake in 1933. The House of Europa (on the left, in the background) dates from the 2nd Century and in front there's a section of the Decumanus Maximus, the Roman city's main thoroughfare.

The Medieval walls of Castle of the Knights, constructed in the 15th century, stand guard beside Kos harbour whilst the overgrown inner courtyard plays host to hundreds of cats, basking in the shade.

At the port you'll see an unbroken row of excursion boats, fishing vessels and fancy yachts bobbing against each other all along the waterfront. 

High speed catamarans connect Kos Town with Turkey, a journey of around twenty minutes.

Piatera Platanou is a pretty cobblestone square filled with grand buildings.

The Greek Orthodox church still bears the scars from last year's earthquake which claimed two lives and injured over 100.

Here, over an iced coffee, in one of the many shady cafes that throng the square you can pay your respects to the Hippocrates plane tree, where Hippocrates is said to have taught his pupils in its shade. 

The ancient sarcophagus beneath was converted into a fountain by the Ottomans while the magnificent 18th Century Mosque of Gazi Hassan Pasha, sadly now boarded up, stands opposite.

A bronze statue depicting Hippocrates instructing his students with the Hippocratic oath in both English & Greek etched on to the sides.

Look at the quality of the carving on that thousand year old slab of marble. It's unbelievable that pieces like that are just lying around in the town centre, isn't it?

The Ancient Agora was, like the House of Europa, exposed following the 1933 earthquake. Back in the 4th century BC, this was the first town ever laid out on blocks. 

Lunch was taken al fresco in a tiny cobbled street running adjacent to the harbour and consisted of Greek Salad and Mythos beer....again! 

We couldn't resist a stroll around the shady cemetery.

 Here's the church of Saint John the Baptist which was built in the 5th century AD. 

We were happy to see that animal charity, Z.O.E.K, had collection boxes all over Kos Town with signs encouraging visitors to donate their spare change to help the strays. Volunteers ensured that there were bowls of cat biscuits and water readily available for any hungry cats. It's impossible to visit Greece and not fall in love with the cats - we always do!

After a final wander around the medieval walls we strolled back to the car park to catch our coach back to Kamari.

I'll be back with the final installment very soon.